Billy Bohlke has been running in V.I.Pace Runners events since he was a youngster. He had a successful walk-on career at LSU and is now an Air Force pilot and the CEO of his family airline business. His conversation now is about seeing his two youngsters in cross-country. In the meantime, he dug out his LSU singlet and worked his way to first place in the V.I 10K Championships on a cloudy Sunday morning on St. Croix’s north shore.
He loves to run even though his times, at the age of 37, are minutes per mile slower than his V.I. national record pace of his college days. His first place time was 41:42; 15-year-old triathlete Dominic Pugliese was second in 47:53; V.I. 50-mile champ Mike Klein was third in 49:17; Mike Nissman was fourth in 50:35; Randle Nielsen was fifth in 55:00.
Bridget Klein, the V.I. Marathon and 50-mile champion, made the race a project as she is several months pregnant. Carrying the additional weight, she took first place and fifth overall for females with a time of 54:15; former V.I. Marathon Champion Heidi Snow was second in 62:33; Regina Stevens was third in 63:57 and Mattey Stephenson from Atlanta was fourth in 70:02.
The cross-country season is approaching, and these are the next events on the V.I.Pace Runners calendar:
The 4H/V.I.Pace Runners Cross-Country Series will be on the following dates: Oct. 5, 12 and 26 at the University of the Virgin Islands St. Croix Campus. This series incorporates the St. Croix Interscholastic cross-country with elementary boys and girls running one mile; junior varsity boys and girls running 2 miles, and varsity males and females running 3.1 miles.
The CoastWeeks Beach Relay will be held on Oct. 8 and the West Indies Lab 5-mile will be held on Oct. 15.
For information, contact: V.I.Pace Runners at 643-2557; logon to: http://virginislandspace.org; or email: wallacewilliams@msn.com
